


Sakura Petals

by Arya_Rayne



Series: Time Itself Stood In Protest [1]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fix-It, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Romance, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arya_Rayne/pseuds/Arya_Rayne
Summary: A whole lifetime ago she was his enemy... In this life however she was the most beautiful woman he knew and the only one who could understand his pain. But then came the flowers.
Relationships: Sylvanas Windrunner/Varian Wrynn
Series: Time Itself Stood In Protest [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2051016
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	Sakura Petals

White with red and pink centers, beautiful flowers. Native to Pandaria. Varian had seen them in his previous life. They didn't grow anywhere else in Azeroth.

Except Varian was staring at the sakura petals in his hands shaking in horror. They hadn't been to Pandaria yet. That wasn't for years to come. No, these petals had come from him, he had coughed them up. All he could do was stare at the petals in his hand. He hadn't thought much when he first coughed up petals, he simply decided that they had blown in from somewhere, but now he couldn't deny it. There was no way to deny that the petals had come from him anymore. 

And it had started the day that Sylvanas Windrunner had fallen into his life.... again. He remembered meeting her in his first life, but this time when they met, he realized that she also remembered their previous life. She was instantly someone he could connect to far better than anyone else, and without a wife in this time, he found himself falling in love with the High Elven woman. But with that came the realization that she could never love him back, afterall, he was a short lived human, barely even an adult, he also knew when he would die, and she was an long lived elf, who had already escaped her fate as a banshee, he couldn't possibly give her anything that she didn't already have. 

That was when the petals started. 

Varian told no one. 

Until the day that he collapsed in the hall in a coughing fit. He thanked the Light that no one was around to witness him, but he quickly arranged a trip to Dalaran to talk to the mages there. None of them had an answer. Not a real one. Just that they'd seen his condition before, and they have rarely seen someone survive. A disease they called it. A disease they couldn't cure. 

So life went on, and Varian almost laughed at the mocking flower petals. Almost. He would have if he wasn't in pain. Killed by Gul'dan in a previous life, flowers in this one. He still somehow managed to hide it from everyone. The elves however gave him strange looks whenever he seemed to choke. 

It was King Anasterian who discovered him first. It seems the elves knew this disease. They had no name for it, but they knew it, and had managed to find a cure of sorts, but it also removed the emotions that had brought the flowers in the first place. 

"You will die if the one you have fallen for doesn't return your affections, young Wrynn," Anasterian told him. The look that Varian had given him spoke volumes. Needless to say, the human King wasn't about to surrender what feelings he had. All he had to do was woo Sylvanas Windrunner. Former Banshee Queen. Now formidable Ambassador for Quel'thalas. Simple, right? Just walk up to this beautiful, strong amazing woman who Varian realistically had no chance with. Everything would be fine. 

Varian was doomed. And the sakura petals mocked him everytime he coughed them up. 

He tried, really, he did. Sylvanas liked him well enough. They had a bond in their shared knowledge of a timeline they had lived. It was a dark humour between them, but at the same time, Varian made sure to assure Sylvanas that he didn't hold whatever she did as the Banshee Queen against her. Being near the High Elf lessened the pain, but didn't stop the coughing or the petals. 

It was getting worse actually. Now he was coughing up full flowers, not just petals. He choked more often. He was dying, it was only a matter of time before Sylvanas discovered his secret. The thought made him depressed. Noticeably so. 

"Varian..." her voice was soft and concerned. 

It was a few weeks after King Anasterian had confronted him, and Varian was avoiding everyone. Except Sylvanas had found him. She, out of concern, had ignored all decorum and walked into his own private rooms. To find Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind, on his hands and knees, coughing up flowers, before collapsing on his side in a shuddering heap. Beautiful sakura flowers scattering the ground around him. 

"Syl.... vanas...." Varian gasped weakly. His breath shuddered as he tried to recover from his coughing fit. She was by his side in an instant. The High Elf pulled Varian's head into her lap, gently turning him so he was lying on his back. 

"Foolish man," she murmured. "Why didn't you tell someone you needed help?" 

"No one can help me Vana," Varian whispered. "I fell in love with a woman who could never love me back." 

Sylvanas paused and began to stroke his hair with compassionate hands, her eyes soft. "Tell me about her," she commanded softly. 

"She is beautiful, like the sakura of Pandaria," the human King said, closing his eyes. "She is a strong woman, who denied a horrible fate. Kind and caring, yet firm, she reflects on past actions and works to change herself for betterment. A hero of her people." 

He opened his eyes again and stared up at her, his voice growing quieter. "She has beautiful storm coloured eyes, shining golden hair. But even if I were blind, I'd still love her more than words could ever describe. Because she took the time to know me, and she doesn't expect anything from me in return." 

"She sounds like a wonderful woman," Sylvanas murmured with a small smile. "Let me tell you about this man I have been falling for in turn." 

Varian's heart clenched at that, but he nodded anyway, wanting to listen to her voice. 

"He too is strong," the elf hummed. "He is sometimes foolhardy and brash, but he is a protector. His people are everything to him. He knows what future lies before him, but he fights anyway, because, just as he was in a previous life, he seeks the survival of not just his Kingdom or the Alliance, but all of Azeroth." 

The King's eyes widened and met the grey-blue gaze of Sylvanas, her expression was so soft, so full of love. 

"His hair is long, scruffy, frames his face, like the mane of a lion," she continued. "A lovely brown, like the earth. His sapphire eyes can be warm, welcoming, or cold and frozen. And I thank the Light I am not blind, because I would hate to miss his handsome face. I wish he could have come to me sooner, and saved himself so much pain." 

"Vana...?" Varian asked hesitantly. She pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

"Your woman does love you back Varian," she hummed. "I do love you..." 

It was as if the tight feeling in his chest disappeared slowly, receding. Varian smiled and allowed himself to drift off to sleep. He was somehow tired, and Sylvanas' fingers running through his hair was soothing. When he woke up again it would be to Sylvanas' relieved face, a few hours after that Varian found himself cornered by Ranger-General Lor'themar Theron who told him in no uncertain terms that Stormwind would need a new King if Sylvanas was ever hurt.

Everything would be fine. Varian decided that the sakura was his favourite flower.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to the World of Warcraft Amino on the 23rd of June 2019 under my account Taelsong of Silvermoon. Written for Weekly Prompts #27 - Lurv!!! - Hanahaki Disease
> 
> Also posted on Tumblr with the artwork I made for it [Sakura Petals Tumblr Post](https://arya-rayne.tumblr.com/post/637169039404384256/sakura-petals)


End file.
